Kwama

Language name and location: Gwama, Oromia region, Ethiopia [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 瓜马语 (夸马语 Kwama), 埃塞俄比亚中南部奥罗米亚州

1. sóndò /sɛ́ːnɛ́ /sɛ́ːsʼkìn	21. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-òt-sɛ̀n
2. sùjá	22. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-òt-sújá
3. twásɛ̀n	23. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-òt-twásɛ̄n
4. béːsʼìn	24. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-òt-béːsín
5. kúːmùtʼ	25. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-òt-kúːmútʼ
6. kúbà-sèːn ('takes/lends/brings one')	26. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-òt-kúbá-sɛ̄n
7. kúbá-sùjá ('takes/lends/brings two')	27. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-òt-kúb-sújá
8. kúbà-twásɛ̄n ('takes/lends/br. three')	28. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-òt-kúbā-twásɛ̄n
9. kúb-béːsʼín ('takes/lends/brings four')	29. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-òt-kúb-béːsʼìn
10. kʼúːzí (lit: 'fingers')	30. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-ɡì-kʼúːzì *
11. kʼúz-òt-sɛ̀n	40. sʼìt-sùjá
12. kʼúz-òt-sújá	50. sʼìt-sùjá-ɡì-kʼúːzì
13. kʼúz-òt-twásɛ̄n	60. sʼìt-twásɛ̄n (lit: 'three persons')
14. kʼúz-òt-béːsìn	70. sʼìt-twásɛ̄n-ɡì-kʼúːzì
15. kʼúz-òt-kúːmùtʼ	80. sʼìt-bésʼīn (lit: 'four persons')
16. kʼúz-òt-kúbà-sɛ̄n	90. sʼìt-bésʼīn-ɡì-kʼúːzì
17. kʼúz-òt-kúbà-sùjá	100. sʼìt-kʼúːmùtʼ, 200. sʼìt-jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n,
18. kʼúz-òt-kúbà-twásɛ̄n	300. sʼìt-jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-òt-kúmùtʼ, 400. sʼìt-sújá
19. kʼúz-òt-kúb-béːsʼìn	500. sʼìt-sújá-òt-kúmùtʼ, 600. sʼìt-twásɛ̄n
20. jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n	800. sʼìt-béːsʼìn, 1,000. sʼìt-kʼúːzí

Linguist providing data and dateː Dr. Andargachew Getu Gebeyehu, Department of Linguistics- Documentary Linguistics and Culture Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May 3, 2013, September 23, 2014.

提供资料的语言学家: Dr. Andargachew Getu Gebeyehu, 2013 年 5 月 3 日, 2014 年 9 月 23 日.

Other comments: Gwama is spoken by approximately 15,000 speakers in Benishangul-Gumuz region and Oromia region near South Sudan border, Ethiopia. Gwama has a quinary counting system based 'digits /fingers' and 'body / one person'; 6-9 are compounds based on a quinary system. The numeral 5 in 6-9 is expressed by an action verb kúbà which means 'takes /lends / brings'. This makes the Gwama numbers system similar to Komo.

The word for 20' means 'body /one person'. It also means 'pair' which refers to the pairs of the two limbs. The body part, as a conceptual template, was used up to 100. 30 is expressed by jìsɛ̀-sɛ́n-ɡì-kʼúːzì 'one person and fingers'.

1, Note that sʼit means 'point'. They also utter it out as [sʼi-sʼit] whose lexical equivalent is /sʼit-sʼit/, /t/ is deleted on the surface. Here, it has to be made clear, in Gwama, /sìt/ is used to mean 'person', and not /sʼìt/ which begins with an alveolar ejective. They are minimal-pairs.

2. The lexeme /kʼúːzì/ means ten. It is also used to mean heel as in kʼúzì-sóŋkʼ (ft. heel of the foot). Notice that the later is with short vowel. To mean 'hand finger' they say / mìtʼ-kúmùtʼ/ which literally means 'hand five' (ft. five hand fingers). Each has its own lexeme, except for middle and ring fingers that have similar lexeme, as shown belowː

Lexemeː mìtʼ-kwám also / kwámìtʼ/, glosssː thumb,

Lexemeː mìtʼ-déːpè, glosssː index finger,

Lexemeː mìtʼ-ìdagá, glosssː middle finger; also for ring finger,

Lexemeː wál-wál-mìtʼ also mìtʼ-wálwál, glosssː little finger,

As shown below, beyond 30, whereas the digits remain Gwama, the bases are all borrowing, however, below is the data provided a 25 years old assistant known as Ramadan Haroon, whose father and two tow old people (Haroon Kaya, Jawan Sambo and Yasin Wakene-all above 50 years of age) have count 1-100 and the hundreds up to 1000 using Gwama solely, A resident of another village called Meko Mehandis, who gave me ordinal numbers, has also confirmed that the cardinal numbers counted by these elders are all in Gwama. Below are the Gwama lexemes fro 31 to 39.

31. sʼit-jìsɛ̄-sɛ̀nòt-kʼúzòt-sɛ̄n, 32, sʼit-jìsɛ̄-sɛ̀nòt-kʼúzòt-sújá,

33. sʼit-jìsɛ̄-sɛ̀nòt-kʼúzòt-twásɛ̄n, 34. sʼit-jìsɛ̄-sɛ̀nòt-kʼúzòt-béːsìn

35. sʼit-jìsɛ̄-sɛ̀nòt-kʼúzòt-kúːmùtʼ, 36. sʼit-jìsɛ̄-sɛ̀nòt-kʼúzòt-kúbá-sɛ̀n,

37. sʼit-jìsɛ̄-sɛ̀nòt-kʼúzòt-kúbà-sújà, 38. sʼit-jìsɛ̄-sɛ̀nòt-kʼúzòt-kúbà-twásɛ̄n,

39. sʼit-jìsɛ̄-sɛ̀nòt-kʼúzòt-kúb-béːsʼín.

Note that y = IPA [j], š = IPA [ʃ], kʼ, sʼ, tʼ are ejective consonants.

Long vowelsː ii, ee, uu, oo, aa.

N.B. Gwama is a tonal language with three contrastive level tone (H, M and L).

Language name and location: Gwama, Oromia region, Ethiopia [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 瓜马语 (夸马语 Kwama), 埃塞俄比亚中南部奥罗米亚州

1. sɛ́ɛ́kʼín	21.
2. swíjá	22.
3. twàsɛ́n	23.
4. béésʼín	24.
5. kómòtʼ	25.
6. kúpà-sɛ́n ( litː ? + 1)	26.
7. kúpà-swíjá ( litː ? + 2)	27.
8. kúpà-twàsɛ̄n ( litː ? + 3)	28.
9. kúpà-béésʼín ( litː ? + 4)	29.
10. kʼoosʼi	30.
11. kóózìòt-ɛ̀-sɛ̄n	40.
12. kóózìòt-ɛ̀-swíjá	50.
13. kóózìòt-ɛ̀-twàsɛ́n	60.
14. kóózìòt-ɛ̀- mʊbisiːna	70.
15. kóózìòt-ɛ̀-béésʼín	80.
16. kóózìòt-ɛ̀-kúpà-sɛ́n	90.
17. kóózìòt-ɛ̀-kúpà-swíjá	100. sʼísʼít kòmòt
18. kóózìòt-ɛ̀-kúpà-twàsɛ̄n	200.
19. kóózìòt-ɛ̀-kúpà-béésʼín	1000.
20. jísɛ́-sɛ́nɛ́	2000.

Linguist providing data and dateː Mr. Dirk Kievet, SIL International, March 9, 2012.

Data collected by Erika Robertson. March 9, 2012.

提供资料的语言学家: Mr. Dirk Kievet, 2012 年 3 月 9 日.

Other comments: Gwama or Kwam has a vigesimal system of counting with base-five substructure. The Gwama only use traditional numerals up to 10, 20, or 30, then they continue in Arabic.

Language name and location: Gwama, Oromia region, Ethiopia [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 瓜马语 (夸马语 Kwama), 埃塞俄比亚中南部奥罗米亚州

1. seːko ~ se:ndo / ʔāˈsɛ́n~ ʔāsɛ́l (SIL)	21.
2. siːya / ˈsíjá (SIL)	22.
3. twazan ~ twasan / ˈtʷāsán (SIL)	23.
4. mbisiːna ~ beːsen / bēːsīn (SIL)	24.
5. kʷʊmbut ~ kombɔt / ˈkʰūːmùt (SIL)	25.
6. kʊmpasɛnde / ˈkōbāsín (SIL)	26.
7. kʊmpa-siːya / kōbə̄ˈsìa (SIL)	27.
8. kʊmpa-twasən / kōbə̄ˈtʷàsɪn (SIL)	28.
9. kʊmpa-n-beːsina / kōˈbeːéːsīn (SIL)	29.
10.kʊʃʊmbiːt ~kwuːzia / ˈkūːzi (SIL)	30. jiːsɛsɛːnde wɔt kʊʃʊmbiːt
11. kwuːzia wəde seːnde / Arabic	40. ʃɛldi aːʃa
12. kwuːzia wət siːya	50.
13. kwuːzia wɔt twaːsɛna	60.
14. kwuːzia wɔt mʊbisiːna	70.
15.	80.
16.	90.
17.	100. tsìzìtˈkúːzì (SIL)
18.	200.
19.	1000.
20. jiːsɛsɛːndey / jīsɛ̀ˈsīn (SIL)	2000.

Linguist providing data and dateː Prof. Marvin L. Bender, Southern Illinois University, USA, June 2, 1989.

Additional dataː Siebert, Ralph, Kati Siebert and Klaus Wedekind. 2002.

Sociolinguistic Survey Report on Languages of the Asosa-Beg-Komosha Area. Part I.

SIL International.

提供资料的语言学家: Prof. Marvin L. Bender, 1989 年 6 月 2 日.

Other comments: Kwam (Asosa) has a vigesimal system of counting with base-five substructure. From recent SIL survey report, the Kwama only use traditional numerals up to 10, 20, or 30, then they continue in Arabic. Some use Kwama to count the tens, twenties or thirties, but add the subtotals in Arabic.

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